PARABATAI
by Amber2Rose
Summary: Two shadowhunters, fighting together, being even closer to each other than siblings. A perfectly aligned dyad of hunters; warriors, willing to die for each other. But being one's parabatai is always more than just a promise.
1. P for Permanent

**P for Permanent**

"Simon? Simon are you ready?"

Isabelle knocked relentlessly at his door. Then – without waiting for an answer – she entered the room and scrutinized Simon for half an eternity without saying a word. Insecure Simon looked down at himself. He was wearing – quite mundie-like – a dark jeans and a pale shirt underneath a navy blue suit coat. He himself felt pretty confident with his appearance, even if it felt a bit unusual to see himself like that. As his sight went back to Izzy, her mimic was still unreadable. Immediately doubts began to rise. Certainly he looked totally ridiculous. With suspicion he glanced in the mirror behind him. His eyes met Izzy's reflection right over his shoulder. She grinned broadly and gave him a wink.

"You look amazing."

Simon exhaled in relief. If Izzy said so, it had to be right. Nevertheless he felt still a little bit uncomfortable in this getup.

"Iz?"

She must had sensed his unease, because Simon was immediately turned around by his shoulders and dragged into a hug without further ado.

"Don't worry, Simon. You are doing the right thing. I know that you love Clary."

"It is just because everything is so new to me."

Simon cursed himself inwardly for always sounding so weepy in such situations.

"You can do this, Simon," whispered Isabelle and kissed him gently on his cheek. Simon shivered as always when Isabelle was touching him.

"I've to look after Alec," Isabelle tossed in and turned away, "you know him." Simon nodded in understanding although he would have done everything for Isabelle to stay with him.

"See ya!" Isabelle shouted as she passed the door and left Simon all by himself in his room.

The Accords Hall in Idris was decorated all in solemnity. Large banner hung down from the ceiling and tiny bouquets were attached to every row of chairs. Simon eyeballed the decoration wary.

"What do you think of that?"

Jace approached Simon from behind and slapped him on the back.

"Well, if I'm honest…"

"Do I detect criticism?"

Synchronous Jace and Simon turned theirs heads backwards.

"Izzy!" exclaimed Jace and embraced his sister. Isabelle joining the hug winked over Jace's back at Simon.

"This blue dress suits you excellent, Izzy, but you already know it, don't you?" Jace smirked.

"I must be hearing things! Is it just me or did Mr I-am-so-perfect-like-nobody-else-in-this-whole-universe just declare someone else despite him as good-looking? Miracles do happen!" Simon shouted sarcastically and spread his arms. Jace glanced at Simon with a withering keep-practising-sarcasm-as-long-as-there-is-the-slightest-hint-of-hope-that-you-will-be-good-at-it-one-day-look while Isabelle burst in laughter and blew Jace a playfull kiss.

"Isabelle, you look absolutely gorgeous today." Magnus took Isabelle's Hand and kissed her gently and in old-fashioned manner on the back of the hand.

"Thanks, Magnus. Oh dear! Alec, what have you done? Haven't I given you your new light blue shirt to wear? And what – for God's sake – have you done with your hair?" Consternation wasn't even a term for Izzy's reaction anymore. Understandable. Alec wore a purple-coloured shirt with golden flower embroidery and his hair gleamed in glitter, which fluttered slightly down onto his shoulders by every single movement of his head.

"Alec!" Isabelle's glance packs a punch as she stared at her brother. Alec just shrugged his shoulders and peered at Magnus, who had put his arm around Alec's hip.

"Magnus!" remonstrated Izzy and was interrupted immediately by Magnus, who corrected her with a reproachful blink.

"My dearest Isabelle Sophia Lightwood, you may have an idea about fashion of the 21st century but I still remain the one of us, who came to appreciate the advantages of all bygone ages. Regarding the glitter, which I have successfully applied to emphasise Alexander's attractions a fortiori…"

Isabelle put Magnus off generously before he would have talked himself into a rage.

"C'mon, Simon. Let's take our seats."

After a last distressed glance at her brother and Magnus, the two shiny disco balls, Isabelle turned around and linked her arms with Simon's. She kindly led him through the centre aisle until they were in the front row. Next to each other they took their seats. Being wreck with tension Simon wriggled about on his chair.

"Hey, calm down," whispered Isabelle soothingly and put one hand on Simon's upper arm. The familiar tingle spread on his skin and set every fibre in his body into vibration. This definitely wasn't going towards calming him down. Simon tried to breath slower and listened to his pounding heartbeat. Clarissa-Clarissa-Clarissa. He groaned. His heart has taken the rhythm of Clary's name as well.

The Hall became silent when consul Jia Penhallow stepped forward and delivered the opening speech. Simon tried to follow her address but the words reached him only as single letters and his thoughts hurry-scurried. He almost missed to stand up when Jia asked him to come to the front but a not so pain-free dig in the ribs by Izzy got him back in the presence. He stood up tumbling and stumbled to the front. Blinded by the bright light the occasion what he had come for came back to Simon's mind. The whole day he avoided more or less successfully every thought about her. But now, standing right before her, he was over-boiled by his emotions. Clary-Clary-Clary-Clary. Fragments of several memories came to his mind. Memories, he thought which were forgotten forever. Clary and him as children, nestled tight to each other deep in sleep. They both together at their primary school. Clary drawing, him watching her. Clary and him with Luke at the lake. Innocent hours full of happiness.

"Simon?" Clary's swift voice drew him out of his thoughts. Simon blinked away the mist in front of his eyes hastily before he realised that the other councillors were standing in a semicircle around them.

"Are you ready to start the ceremony, Mr Lovelace?" Jia Penhallow calmly asked her question for the second time. Simon nodded and wiped his sweaty hands on his pants. His knees were shaking harder than ever before.

"Do you swear by the angel Zacharel to dedicate yourselves with commitment to what is known as the shadowhunter's holy mission?"

"We swear."

Simon rasped it more than he actually said it but Clary's voice was firm and she looked him deep in the eye.

"Do you swear by the archangel Raziel to share all your knowledge and capabilities with each other to become a unity conquering all evil until victory?

"We swear."

As Clary's determination leaped to Simon a new assurance flooded through his body.

"Do you swear by the archangel Michael to protect and entrust your life to each other and to use your combined strength to serve the clave and the case to relieve the world from any evil?"

Clary and Simon exchanged an intense gaze.

"We swear."

"Then hand each other your steles, apply the rune and speak the oath."

Simon gulped as he drew his stele out of his pocket and attached it to Clary's crook of her neck. Simon took a deep breath.

"Entreat me not to leave thee,  
Or return from following after thee."

While Simon ran gently with his stele over Clary's soft skin, a dark pattern was burnt into it. Clary clenched in pain. Nonetheless she kept up sounding still confident.

"For whither thou goest, I will go."

"And where thou lodgest, I will lodge," Simon joined in again.

"Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."

He drew the last line and finished the rune. It was a pretty rune and it looked markedly aesthetic on Clary's neck. Determined he tilted his head a bit and bared Clary his throat.

"Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried."

Simon cringed in pain when the stele touched his skin scorching. He forced himself to clench his teeth and to continue the oath as clearly as possible.

"The Angel do so to me, and more also,  
If aught but death part thee and me."

Clary finished the rune with a last sweeping motion and the stinging pain eased slowly. Simon met Clary's sight and held it while Jia spoke the final words. Neither Clary nor himself paid heed to the closing remarks. They were too inebriated by the feeling rushing through their bodies. It was a breath-taking feeling fulfilled with boundless happiness. Capable to weaken the one but strengthen the two. It was impossible to put this into words.

Cheers reached them bit by bit. Jia's speech was apparently over. Any second they would be surrounded by their friends. Wanting to exploit this fading moment of togetherness abundantly Simon looked Clary deep in the eye not saying a word. He saw the endless depth of her soul, saw Clary by nature with all of her weaknesses and imperfections and all what he saw was absolutely beautiful. There was no need to play-act. They knew each other as good as they knew themselves. In such a moment every single cell in Simon's body was aware of the reason, why he acceded to Clary's wish. They didn't need words to communicate. One single glance said more than thousands of words possibly could. There was only one word able to describe his sentiment.

"Parabatai," formed Clary's lips voiceless before Isabelle fell around her neck and they nearly lost balance.

"Parabatai," Simon answered just as mute and a smile stole across his lips.

* * *

 _Hello, everyone!  
I hope you enjoyed my version of Climon's parabatai ceremony.  
The exact words of the oath are from the shadowhunters' wikia: wiki/Parabatai_  
 _Please tell me if you liked it or if you have any improvement suggestions :) I would really appreciate to get in touch with you. ^^  
Take care & a happy new year!  
Amber ^^_


	2. A for Appreciation

**A for Appreciation**

It was dark as midnight. Carefully, being anxious to not cause the slightest noise, Alec lurked around in the narrow corridor eavesdropping. Something shady was going on, he felt that in his bones. Slowly he took a further step forward and peeked around the corner as a creak caused him to flinch. Immediately Alec's pulse rate increased.

"Keep calm, Alec," he exhorted himself inwardly while he tried vainly to bring his hammering heart back to standard frequency. He hid behind an old ebony wooden cupboard shaking in tension. A slender form strode down the stairs deliberately. His hair gleamed silver in the incident glimmer of light. Alec bit the inside of his cheek until he tasted warm blood. He must not be descried right now. Alec held his breath petrified in fright. Sebastian kept coming closer. Alec's muscles clenched up. Right in front of the cupboard Sebastian stopped and stayed for a while. The wall hurt in Alec's back as he pressed himself tight against it. Then Sebastian turned around and opened the kitchen door. In his hand he held a metallic object.

Alec sighted in relief. Sebastian hadn't noticed him. On tiptoes he slinked to the door and peered inside. Sebastian was standing with his back to the door. No light was on. Alec enhanced his grasp at the hilt of his dagger gritty and tried to get rid of his shakiness. The dagger wasn't quite his preferred weapon but there was certainly not enough space in the Penhallow's house for his bow and arrow. The weapon held nicely in his hand although the metal felt warm and slippery. Svelte birds were engraved in the blade and on the hilt the initials SWH were inscribed. Jace had let him borrow it.

Alec squinted cautiously into the kitchen for a second time and what he saw made his blood run cold. Max. Izzy and Max. Voices reached his ears.

"Sebastian. What the heck are you doing? Why are you bottling us up? We have to leave and fight! The others need us!"

Izzy talked insistently to Sebastian, who doesn't even took a blind bit of notice. Emphatically he watched Max, who clinged on to his older sister, instead.

"Are you even listening?"

Izzy's voice got louder and she grabbed Sebastian's arm in anger. His reaction came as unexpected as blazing fast. His hand hit Isabelle's face at full tilt. With an outcry she plunged to the ground. Blood oozed out of her nose.

"Izzy!"

Max slumped down next to his sister snivelling in fear and shook her by the shoulder.

"Izzy, wake up!" he cried out loud.

Dazzling panic took over Alec's shock when he saw Sebastian who lifted the heavy object in his hand ready to smash it onto Max and Izzy.

"NO!"

Alec jumped out from behind the door yelling.

"What the…" started Sebastian in the same moment as the dagger left Alec's hand. Pike-first it plunged into his throat. Rattling Sebastian sank to the floor and remained there motionless without finishing the sentence.

"Alec!"

Max stormed to his brother and clasped Alec's belly with his thin arms.

"You saved us," sobbed Max and his tears dampened Alec's gear. Calmingly Alec raked his fingers through his brother's hair. It was long and soft and a bit ruffled. Max purred in pleasure. Alec sat up with a sudden start. His heartbeat raced and his eyes slowly became adjusted to the darkness. Blinded his hands fumbled in the dark searching for the light switch. The bright dome light flashed and Alec had to screw up his eyes against the glare. Church leaped to his paws hissing and arched his back.

"Hey, Church. What are you doing here?" Alec asked reaching out to stroke the institute's tomcat. As an answer Church gave Alec the evil eye and hit him with a paw.

"Ouch! Why did you do that? Get lost, fleabag!" Alec complained and pushed the tom ruggedly out of his bed. The Persian gave him a last insulted hiss before strutted out of the room with his head held high. Alec creased his face in pain. Three blood red scratches adorned his hand where church's claws dug into his skin.

"Ouch," mumbled he as his fingertips touched his bruised hand slightly. Alec folded back his blanket sighing and stuck his legs out into the freezing cold night air. Shivering he got up and pitter-pattered barefooted over to his bathroom. The ancient stone tiles were as cold as pure ice and Alec had to pull himself together to not chatter his teeth. Carefully he held his bruised hand under the water tap and let the cold water wash away the mite blood drops. Alec's glance met his reflection. He was pale, even paler than usual and his typical dark blue eyes seemed to have the colour of pitch-black demon blood. Alec gulped. Under his eyes were thin blue blood vessels clearly recognizable and his cheekbones stuck out sharply. With both hands he managed to splash a torrent of cold water into his face hoping to look a bit sprightlier. The effect was disillusioning. Like a zombie Alec scuffled back into his room. The alarm clock on his bedside table displayed 4.28 AM. Alec sank back into his warm bed deeply sighing. He had never been big on getting up before dawn.

Alec poked morosely in his muesli. Mundie-music blared nerve-rackingly from an old retro radio, which had been – according to Izzy – an unbeatable bargain. Izzy bobbed up and down happily in time with the music while Alec would have loved nothing better than to bang his head on the table – strictly in time obviously.

"Izzy, please. Turn off that piece of garbage. I can't bear this wretched music any longer," he grumbled while milk spilled over the edge of his bowl onto the table.

"Stop being like that, dear brother. Only because you are unable to get going in the morning, you don't have to drag us all down. Good morning, Jace!"

Jace stepped through the door into the kitchen. He wore a dark pyjama bottoms and a white T-Shirt. His hair was still damp.

"Morning," he greeted, took a bowl and the milk carton and plunked down into a chair opposite to Alec. One by one he filled his bowl with cornflakes, dried fruit and milk.

"Muesli is one of the rare things eatable in this institute," he muttered with his mouth full and side-eyed Isabelle.

"Watch your tongue, Jonathan Christopher!" blustered Izzy and picked up a tea towel.

"Take it easy," Jace laughed devotedly, "I love you, too."

He jumped forward to hug Isabelle, but she swerved and tackled him from behind knocking him onto the worktop.

Alec didn't pay much attention to his siblings' little play-fight until Jace's eyes met him.

"Alec, you look horrendous today."

It wasn't a cry of consternation or that sort of thing, but more like an objective detection.

"Well, thank you very much," replied Alec dryly and stood up, "I'm not hungry, anymore."

Alec dumped his bowl and spoon down into the sink.

"Hey, Alec, wait up!"

Jace leaped up and seized him by the arm.

"What's biting you?"

Alec snorted.

"Nothing. I just have a bad day, okay?"

He rubbed his reddened eyes. Jace put a hand on Alec's shoulder.

"You are my best friend, Alec, my parabatai. You really think I wouldn't sense if you aren't feeling all right? What's wrong?"

"Jace."

Alec turned his head avoiding Jace's glance.

"Talk to me, Alec." Jace's voice sounded imploringly. "Please!"

"I had a dream," Alec started, "we were back in Alicante, at Penhallow's. It was dark. I hid in the hallway. Sebastian was there. And Izzy. And Max. Jace, Max was there, he was alive!"

Alec shook Jace's shoulder.

"Sebastian wanted to kill him. Him and Izzy. I killed Sebastian and saved Max. I saved him. He didn't die. Max was alive!"

Alec's eyes shone.

"But then I woke up and Max was dead again. He is dead, Jace. He was mere a child!"

Alec's eyes were filled with tears. Desperately he struck against the wall.

"He was only a child! What has he done to deserve this?"

Under a blur of tears Alec dug his nails into Jace's upper arm and rocked his parabatai heavily. Ruggedly Jace was thrust against the wall.

"Alec…"

"I didn't save him, Jace, I didn't save him…"

Alec gave a sudden sob.

"I didn't save him, either, Alec."

A single tear dropped down onto Jace's T-Shirt. More followed.

"I am feeling so useless, Jace, but you don't even know what it feels like being absolutely powerless, knowing, that you aren't and never going to be good enough, always being overshadowed by someone greater and better than you, do you?"

"ALEC!" Jace sounded startled. "Do you even listen to what you say?!"

"You will ever be the great and shining star and I am nothing next to you."

Now, it was Jace who shook his friend by the shoulder.

"Stop it, Alec. STOP TALKING NOW!"

Fury detached the sorrow in Jace's countenance.

"You aren't useless, Alec. You must not believe that. Never. Do you remember the day I asked you, if you want to be my parabatai? You replied, that you need some time to think about it and went straight away. I was terrified that night. Then – the next morning – you came to me saying, that you agree. That was one of the rare truly beautiful moments of my entire life. I always admired you, Alexander Lightwood, and I still do so. You are more cautious, more considerate and circumspect. You always weight the possibilities before you act, and when you act, you are always willing to bear the consequences. For that, I admire you because I know, that I could never be like you. I may be the superior fighter but without you as my backing, my brother, my parabatai, I would have died a thousand deaths. Without you there would be no one capable to restrain me. I owe you the fact, that I'm still living."

Jace's gaze burnt on Alec's skin.

"Don't think that you are less worth than me ever again. Don't dare to think such a thing once more.

Jace sounded menacing and deadly serious.

"Do you promise?"

Alec nodded toneless. Jace's words had formed a lump in his throat he couldn't swallow.

"I need you, Alec," whispered Jace softly.

"I need you, too, Jace," mumbled Alec wearily and leaned his head forward against Jace's broad chest.

* * *

 _Hello, everyone!  
I hope you liked my second chapter, this time about Alec and Jace. I am incredibly upset about Max' death. He definitely didn't deserve it :´( But otherwise he wasn't a leading part and his death important for the plot. What do you think? Do you think Max' death was necessary?  
Take care.  
Amber ^^_


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